A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Day 11: Laon To Corbeny

Bizarre cyclist in front of the bijou mairie at Bruyères-et-Montbérault.

A backward glance at Laon cathedral.

War memorial at Bièvres.

The countryside was at last becoming hillier and more wooded.

The Hôtel du Chemin des Dames at Corbeny (the Chemin des Dames was a major battlefield of World War One). I stayed here the night, sharing a room with Peter. You can just see my tent hanging up to dry in the right-hand window. For pilgrims the cost was a very reasonable €34 for dinner, bed and breakfast — dinner being a set menu of chicken gizzards with salad, clafoutis and tarte mirabelle, wine and coffee.

First of all, Ralph, there's little chance of it happening in Wales. And I'm not going to get involved in the Irish situation, as it's far too complicated!

Myself, I have always felt both English and British: I love both Scotland and Wales, and their Celtic heritage, and have often visited and walked there. I have Scottish and Welsh friends, and I'm proud of the character and natural beauty of those countries with which England is so intimately connected — geographically, historically etc. Then again, I also feel strongly European (which not all the English/British do) — and I also feel a citizen of the world.

What makes me uneasy is extreme nationalism — and any nationalist campaign has its ugly aspects, whether it be in the Basque region, in Catalonia, in Ireland or in Scotland. I embrace a natural pride in one's origins, in one's country, and a desire to have a say in what's considered best for that country; I don't like a surfeit of flag-waving, a narrow-minded isolationism or an arrogant over-statement of one's own importance and separateness.

Instinctively I would feel genuinely sorry to see the union broken up; some of this is, no doubt, fear of the unknown. Scotland and Wales already have their own devolved parliaments, which have worked out well. If the vote is very close as predicted, and the 'No's' finally win by a small margin, these parliaments will become more and more devolved in any case. Perhaps there will be a more federal setup?

I don't feel it's my affair to take one side or the other, as I feel it's up to the Scots to decide. Scotland itself is very divided on the issue — from Saltire-waving über-patriots to Edinburgh-based Anglo-Scots worried about their business interests.

Whatever the outcome today — and I will be following it closely — I wish Scotland only the best, and hope their relationship with England will continue harmoniously.

Re. London and the rest of the country, it's a long-standing thing that London looks after itself first, and there's also a long-standing perceived division between London/the SE and the rest of Britain, between the South and the North etc. But it's the same in many countries, isn't it — the US North and Deep South, the north and south of Italy etc.

I hope devolution rather than independence prevails. While I sometimes wish that California could be divorced from some of the craziness that exists in this country, I do appreciate the strength that comes from the union of these 52 disparate entities.

I enjoyed looking at all your beautiful photos of France. I had not seen that WWI memorial in St-Nicolas-aux-Bois when I was looking at all the WWI memorials for one of my posts on the war a while back. It is a modern one, so that is why I would not have a postcard of it. I admire all your walking – you certainly carry a lot, so it is good that you can stop in cafes along the way. I have traveled to France in the last 3 weeks, but not in the country, but in time – going back to WW2 – not a subject enjoyed by many though as I can tell (people are not reading it....) I read your answer to Ralph – if you do not like flag waving, you better not come to the US – there are flags everywhere – people’s houses, people’s cars, stores, car dealerships, churches, and more – a sea of flags. But don’t ever mention it here because they do not like any criticism on the country – I know …. It looks like you are having good weather. Bonne route!

ARAGÓN VALLEY

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. JOHN MUIR

QUOTES

I walk, therefore I am. PIERRE GASSENDI

Only that day dawns to which we are awake. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

We are here on the planet only once, and might as well get a feel for the place. ANNIE DILLARD

I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop, I cease to think; my mind works only with my legs. JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. WALLACE STEVENS

The longest journey begins with a single step. LAO TZU

Good walking leaves no track behind it. LAO TZU

A good traveller has no fixed plan and is not intent on arriving.LAO TZU

One step at a time is good walking.CHINESE PROVERB

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. FRED ALLEN

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking ... Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. RAYMOND INMON

Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. ANATOLE FRANCE

The longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart. ANON

Not all those who wander are lost. JRR TOLKIEN

It is solved by walking. ST AUGUSTINE

Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord.REBECCA SOLNIT

The longest journey is the journey inward.DAG HAMMARSKJOLD

We carry within us the wonders we seek without us. SIR THOMAS BROWNE

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.JOHN MUIR

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. ALBERT CAMUS

The only thing I knew how to do / Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew. BOB DYLAN

Ain't talkin', just walkin'. BOB DYLAN

Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. SØRENKIERKEGAARD

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. MATSUO BASHŌ

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes. MARCEL PROUST

If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. WILLIAM BLAKE

SAINT-PRIVAT D'ALLIER

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least — and it is commonly more than that — sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

VIA FRANCIGENA

It is not down in any map; true places never are. HERMAN MELVILLE

ELIXIR OF LIFE

We should be low and lovelike and lean each man to the other / And patient as pilgrims, for pilgrims are we all. WILLIAM LANGLAND

THE CAT WHO WALKS BY HIMSELF

This may be one of the under appreciated pleasures of travel: of being at last legitimately lost and confused. REBECCA SOLNIT

TOP CAT, TOP HAT

We are fallen in mostly broken pieces, I thought, but the wild can still return us to ourselves. ROBERT MACFARLANE

LAKE DISTRICT

Getting lost is our best defence against being lost. ADAM PHILLIPS

SWISS ALPS

Arrival, like origin, is a mythical place. REBECCA SOLNIT

GLASTONBURY

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

SOURCE OF THE LOUE

Discover the world in which you already live. WALTER BENJAMIN

CLOCHER COMTOIS

My monastery is the world. HARRY MULISCH

WATER LILY

It has been a savage enough pilgrimage... I feel a stranger everywhere and nowhere... Rip the veil of the old vision across, and walk through the rent. DH LAWRENCE

Let me drink from the waters where the mountain streams flood / Let the smell of wildflowers flow free through my blood / Let me sleep in your meadows with the green grassy leaves / Let me walk down the highway with my brother in peace / Let me die in my footsteps / Before I go down under the ground.BOB DYLAN

There is no greatness where simplicity, goodness and truth are absent. LEO TOLSTOY

The one thing necessary, in life as in art, is to tell the truth. LEO TOLSTOY

There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life / There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that mine / O traveller, if you are in search of That / Don't look outside, look inside yourself and seek That. RUMI